Welcome to the Presentation
on
SOVEREIGNTY
Mohammad Alauddin
MSS in Government and Politics
MPA in Governance and Public Policy
Deputy Secretary
mohammad_alauddin@yahoo.com
CSC Dhaka January 31, 2011
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Scope of Presentation
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Introduction
Origin
Definitions
Characteristics
Kinds
Theories
Challenges
Conclusion
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Introduction
The concept of sovereignty became the main idea
of modern political science. The word sovereignty
is derived from the Latin word superanus which
means supremacy or superior power. Sovereignty
is in essence about the power to make laws and the
ability to rule effectively. It is one of the most
written about political concepts and has been
discussed, debated and questioned throughout the
history.
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Origin of the Term
Although the term “sovereignty” is modern, the
idea goes back to Aristotle, who spoke of the
“supreme power” of the state. The Roman jurists
and the civilians throughout the Middle Ages
likewise had the idea, for they frequently
employed the terms summa potestas and plenitudo
potestatis by which to designate the supreme
power of the state. The modern terms “sovereign”
and “sovereignty” (souverain, souverainete) were
first used by the French jurists in the fifteenth
century.
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Origin of the Term
Jean Bodin (1530-1596) in the sixteenth century
was the first writer to discus at length in his “Six
Books on the Republic” the nature and
characteristics of sovereignty.
Originally
conceived as a personal attribute of the monarch,
sovereignty came in the hands of Bodin to be
regarded as a constituent element of the state.
Niccolo Machiaveli (1469-1527), Thomas Hobbes
(1588-1679), John Locke (1632-1704),and
Montesquieu (1689-1755) are also key figures in
unfolding the concept of sovereignty.
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Definitions
Jean Bodin the first writer to employ the term,
defined it as “the supreme power of the state over
citizens and subjects, unrestrained by law”. Hugo
Grotious who wrote half a century later, defined it
as “the supreme political power vested in him
whose acts are not subject to any other and whose
will cannot be overridden”. Jellinek defined it as
“that characteristic of the state by virtue of which
it cannot be legally bound except by its own will,
or limited by any other power than itself”.
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Definitions
Duguit says that sovereignty according to the
dominant theory in France is the “commanding
power of the state; it is the will of the nation
organized in the state; it is the right to give
unconditional orders to all individuals in the
territory of the state”. Burgess characterizes it as
“original, absolute, ultimate power over the
individual subject and all associations of objects.
Again he calls it the “underived and independent
power to command and compel obedience”.
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Characteristics
Permanence
Permanence is the chief characteristics of
sovereignty. Sovereignty lasts as long as an
independent state lasts. The death of the king , the
overthrow of the government does not affect
sovereignty. Dr. Garner has beautifully summed
up this idea- “sovereignty does not cease with the
death or temporary disposition of a particular
bearer, or the reorganization of the state, but shifts
immediately to a new bearer, as the centre of
gravity shifts from one part of physical body to
another when it undergoes external change”.
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Characteristics
Universality
The state is all comprehensive and the sovereign
power is universally applicable. No association or
group of individuals, however rich or powerful it
may be , can resist or disobey the sovereign
authority. Every individual and every association
of individual is subject to the sovereignty of the
state. Sovereignty makes no exception and grants
no exemption to anyone. It grants exemptions only
in the case of foreign embassies and diplomatic
representatives of foreign countries on the
reciprocal basis.
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Characteristics
Exclusiveness
By exclusiveness is meant that there can not be
two sovereigns in one independent state and if two
sovereigns exist in a state, the unity of that state
will be destroyed. There can not exist another
sovereign state within the existing sovereign state.
Inalienability
By inalienability we mean that the state cannot
part with its sovereignty. Sovereignty is the life
and soul of the state and it can not be alienated
without destroying the state itself.
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Characteristics
Indivisibility
Sovereignty can not be divided. The exercise of
its powers may be distributed among various
governmental organs, but sovereignty is a unit,
just as the state is a unit.
Unity
Unity is very spirit of sovereignty. The sovereign
state is united just as we are united.
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Characteristics
Absoluteness
Sovereignty is absolute and unlimited. There can
be no legal power within the state superior to it,
and there can be no legal limit to the supreme law
making power of the state. The sovereign is
entitled to do whatsoever he likes.
Originality
By originality we mean that the sovereign wields
power by virtue of his own right and not by virtue
of anybody’s mercy.
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Kinds of Sovereignty
Internal sovereignty
Sovereignty is normally understood as possessing
two distinct aspects: internal and external.
Sovereignty within the national sphere is known
as internal sovereignty. A state which possesses
internal sovereignty is one which has the authority
and ability to exercise command over its society.
In this situation there are no alternative sites of
authority within the nation.
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Kinds of Sovereignty
External sovereignty
External sovereignty concerns the relationship
between a sovereign power and other states. The
term external sovereignty is employed by some
writers to mean nothing more than the freedom of
the state from subjugation to or control by a
foreign state; that is supremacy of the state as
against all foreign wills, whether of persons or
state.
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Kinds of Sovereignty
Nominal & Real Sovereignty
In ancient times many states had monarchies and
their rulers were monarchs. They wielded absolute
power and their senates were quite powerless. At
that time they exercised real sovereignty and
regarded as real sovereign. For example, Kings
were sovereigns and hence were all powerful in
England before fifteenth century, in USSR before
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and in
France before 1789.
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Kinds of Sovereignty
Nominal & Real Sovereignty
Now the parts are almost reversed. King is
consulted but the ministers decide. The king has
now ceased to exercise any real authority; it is
titular. By titular sovereignty we mean sovereignty
by the title only. In theory, he may still possess all
the sovereign powers which were once enjoyed by
him, but in actual practice there is some other
person or body of persons who act on behalf of the
sovereign and exercise supreme authority.
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Kinds of Sovereignty
Legal Sovereignty
Legal sovereignty is the conception of sovereignty
in terms of law; that is, sovereignty as the supreme
law-making authority. The legal sovereign,
therefore, is that determinate authority which is
able to express in legal form the highest
commands of the state-that power which can
override the prescriptions of the divine law, the
principles of morality, the mandates of public
opinion etc. For instance, the parliament is the
legal authority to exercise legal sovereignty.
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Kinds of Sovereignty
Political Sovereignty
Behind the sovereign which the lawyer
recognizes, there is another sovereignty to which
the legal sovereign must bow. This sovereign is
called political sovereignty. In a narrower sense
the electorate constitutes the political sovereign,
yet in a wider sense it may be said to be the whole
mass of population, including every person who
contributes to molding of public opinion whether
he is a voter or not.
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Kinds of Sovereignty
Popular Sovereignty
Popular sovereignty roughly means the power of
the masses as contrasted with the power of the
individual ruler of the class. It implies manhood,
suffrage with each individual having only one
vote and the control of the legislature by the
representatives of the people. In popular
sovereignty public is regarded as supreme. In the
ancient times many writers on Political Science
used popular sovereignty as a weapon to refuse
absolutism of the monarchs.
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Kinds of Sovereignty
De jure Sovereignty
De jure sovereignty is the legal sovereignty and it
has foundation in law. Its attribute is the right to
govern and command obedience. As a matter of
fact it may not be actual sovereign, for it may be
expelled from its rightful place or may have
temporarily disappeared through disorganization
or disintegration; but, however, this may be, it has
legal right on its side and is lawfully entitled to
command and exact obedience.
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Kinds of Sovereignty
De facto Sovereignty
De facto (or actual) sovereignty is the sovereignty
which is actually able to make its will prevail,
though it may be without legal basis. That person
or body of persons who actually exercises power,
and who, for the time being, is able to enforce
obedience, or to whose commands voluntary
obedience is given by the bulk of the people, is
called the de facto sovereign. The criterion of
sovereignty is actual obedience to commands.
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Theories of Sovereignty
Monistic Theory
John Austin (1790-1859) in his famous book,
‘Lectures on Jurisprudence’, published in 1832,
explained monistic theory of sovereignty. He
defined sovereignty as, ‘if a determinate human
superior, not in the habit of obedience to a like
superior, receives habitual obedience from the
bulk of a given society, that determinate human
superior is the sovereign in that society, and the
society (including the superior) is a society
political and independent.”
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Monistic Theory
Few major points about this sovereignty is:
 The power of the determinate human superior is
sovereignty.
 The determinate human has no rival of equal status in the
state and nor does he obey the order of anyone.
 The determinate human superior is the only law maker.
His commands are laws and without him the state can
have no laws.
 The bulk of the people obey sovereign’s command as a
matter of habit.
 A society without sovereignty can not be called a state.
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Monistic Theory: Criticism
Austin’s theory has been criticized on many grounds,
which are as follows:
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This theory is inconsistent with the present-day popular
sovereignty-a doctrine which lies at the basis of modern
democratic state.
It ignores the power of public opinion and political
sovereignty.
It ignores the great body of customary law which has grown
up through usages and interpretation, and which never had
its source in the will of determinate superior.
Force is not only sanction behind laws.
This theory makes the sovereign completely absolute.
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Pluralistic Theory
Duguit Harold J. Laski J. N. Figgs, Earnest
Barker, Maclver are the exponents of
pluralism. According to the pluralists,
sovereignty resides not with the state but it
resides with many other institutions.
Sovereignty is possessed by many associations.
It is not individual unit; the state is not
supreme or unlimited. Pluralists argue that state
is not only the supreme institution and no
single source of authority. Sovereignty is not
indivisible and exclusive they also argued.
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Pluralistic Theory: Criticism
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The state is needed to control various types of
institutions existing in society. It is the
sovereign state that brings about unity and
regulates all the associations existing in society.
 If sovereignty is divided among the various
associations existing in society, this division
will lead to the destruction of sovereignty.
 It is mere an illusion and not a reality that
other associations are equal in status to the state.
 State is needed for protecting people from the
excess of associations.
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Challenges against the Idea
The idea that nation-states are able to be sovereign
has been the subject of serious challenge in recent
years. Globalization continues to have an
increasingly negative impact on the sovereign
rights of individual nation states. There are
situations in which states have already accepted
some constraints upon their freedom to conduct
themselves as they please within their territories.
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Challenges against the Idea
There exists a range of global institutions which
appear to promote a particular international
economic orthodoxy and therefore allegedly force
governments to pursue particular patterns of
policy. The capacity of national governments to
manage their economies autonomously has been
undermined by the evolution of world economy
and the appearance of authoritative global
institutions such as the International Monetary
Fund.
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Challenges against the Idea
Nation states have become more interdependent
than ever before and are constantly developing
their relationships with each other by means of
treaties. In the period from 1945 to 21 May 1996
the United Nations, to which all treaties should be
notified, had registered no less than 32516 treaties.
Every such instrument affects, to a greater or
lesser extent , the freedom of the parties to the
treaty. This is how national sovereignty is
compromised by international agreements.
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Challenges against the Idea
Sovereignty is also challenged at the doctrine level
by powerful and persuasive ideas such as
universal human rights. Declarations such as the
Council of Europe's Convention for the Protection
of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
(Council of Europe1950) are premised on the view
that human rights transcend national boundaries
and that appropriate definitions of rights and
freedoms are not the business of national
authorities. The European Convention opens up
the possibility that citizens can take their own
governments to the European Court of Human
Rights.
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Conclusion
Nation states still matter. They are the sources of
power with which most people readily identify.
Power becomes meaningful only in reference to
sovereignty. Moreover, terms like community
obligation legitimacy, authority, state government
and constitution ...all are integrated and made
coherent by the concept of sovereignty. It is a
unifying theory, not a simple description. It is a
doctrine which deals with facts of political life,
and not fantasies.
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Required Readings
Kapur, A.C.(2000), Principles of Political
Science, New Delhi: Chand & Company
Ltd.
Garner James Wilford (1951),Political
Science and Government, Calcutta: The
World Press Private Ltd.
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Q & A
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